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• How is human behavior impacting wildlife movement?
• Chumash Indians were using highly worked shell beads as currency 2,000 years ago
• A NEAT reduction of complex neuronal models accelerates brain research
• A newly discovered circuit helps fish to prioritize
• Parkinson's disease risk and severity is tied to a channel in cells' 'recycling centers'
• Blood pressure can be controlled without drugs after spinal cord injury
• Scientists jump-start two people's brains after coma
• 'Achilles' heel' of cancer cells revealed
• Focusing on field analysis
• Optical scanner design for adaptive driving beam systems can lead to safer night driving
• Forests with diverse tree sizes and small clearings hinder wildland fire growth
• Controlling pain after surgery doesn't have to mean opioids, study shows
• Juicing technique could influence healthfulness of fresh-squeezed juice
• Brain activity during speaking varies between simple and complex grammatical forms
• Which beverages burst with umami potential?
• Scientists discover a new promising target for diabetes treatment
• Efficient formation of amide bonds under mild conditions
• Genetic changes in tumors could help predict if patients will respond to immunotherapy
• Ions in molten salts can go 'against the flow'

How is human behavior impacting wildlife movement? Posted: 29 Jan 2021 09:03 AM PST For species to survive in the wild, maintaining connectivity between populations is critical. Without 'wildlife corridors', groups of animals are isolated and may die out. In assessing wildlife connectivity, many aspects of the landscape are measured, but the impact of human behavior has largely been overlooked.

Chumash Indians were using highly worked shell beads as currency 2,000 years ago Posted: 29 Jan 2021 09:02 AM PST Archaeologists show that the Chumash Indians had been using shell beads as money for at least 800 years.

A NEAT reduction of complex neuronal models accelerates brain research Posted: 27 Jan 2021 11:00 AM PST Unlike their simple counterparts in artificial intelligence (AI) applications, neurons in the brain use dendrites - their intricate tree-like branches - to find relevant chunks of information. Now, neuroscientists have discovered a new computational method to make complex dendrite models much simpler. These faithful reductions may lead AI applications to process information much like the brain does.

A newly discovered circuit helps fish to prioritize Posted: 27 Jan 2021 11:00 AM PST Being constantly flooded by a mass of stimuli, it is impossible for us to react to all of them. The same holds true for a little fish. Which stimuli should it pay attention to and which not? Scientists have now deciphered the neuronal circuit that zebrafish use to prioritize visual stimuli. Surrounded by predators, a fish can thus choose its escape route from this predicament.

Parkinson's disease risk and severity is tied to a channel in cells' 'recycling centers' Posted: 27 Jan 2021 11:00 AM PST Genetic variations associated with both increases and reductions in risk of the neurodegenerative disease alter the action of ion channels within cellular organelles called lysosomes, a new study finds.

Blood pressure can be controlled without drugs after spinal cord injury Posted: 27 Jan 2021 11:00 AM PST Researchers have created the first platform to understand the mechanisms underlying blood pressure instability after spinal cord injury. The discovery has led to a new cutting-edge solution. Spinal cord stimulators can bridge the body's autonomous regulation system, controlling blood pressure without medication.

Scientists jump-start two people's brains after coma Posted: 27 Jan 2021 11:00 AM PST In 2016, a team reported that a 25-year-old man recovering from a coma had made remarkable progress following a treatment to jump-start his brain using ultrasound. Now, researchers report that two more patients with severe brain injuries have also made impressive progress thanks to the same technique.

'Achilles' heel' of cancer cells revealed Posted: 27 Jan 2021 10:59 AM PST A new study shows, for the first time, how an abnormal number of chromosomes (aneuploidy) -- a unique characteristic of cancer cells that researchers have known about for decades -- could become a weak point for these cells. The study could lead to the development of future drugs that will use this vulnerability to eliminate the cancer cells.

Focusing on field analysis Posted: 27 Jan 2021 10:59 AM PST One potential approach to developing a low-cost portable microscopy system is to use transparent microspheres in combination with affordable low-magnification objective lenses to increase image resolution and sensitivity.

Optical scanner design for adaptive driving beam systems can lead to safer night driving Posted: 27 Jan 2021 10:59 AM PST Researchers have come up with an alternative to conventional adaptive driving beam systems: a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) optical scanner that relies on the piezoelectric effect of electrically induced mechanical vibrations.

Forests with diverse tree sizes and small clearings hinder wildland fire growth Posted: 27 Jan 2021 10:59 AM PST A new 3D analysis shows that wildland fires flare up in forests populated by similar-sized trees or checkerboarded by large clearings and slow down where trees are more varied.

Controlling pain after surgery doesn't have to mean opioids, study shows Posted: 27 Jan 2021 10:59 AM PST As surgeons balance the need to control their patients' post-surgery pain with the risk that a routine operation could become the gateway to long-term opioid use or addiction, a new study shows the power of an approach that takes a middle way.

Juicing technique could influence healthfulness of fresh-squeezed juice Posted: 27 Jan 2021 10:55 AM PST With the New Year, many people are making resolutions to eat healthier, by eating more vegetables, for example. But those who don't like the taste or texture of some vegetables might prefer to drink them in a home-squeezed juice. Now, researchers have found that the choice of household juicing technique can influence the phytochemical content and antioxidant activity of common vegetable juices.

Brain activity during speaking varies between simple and complex grammatical forms Posted: 27 Jan 2021 09:24 AM PST Some languages require less neural activity than others. But these are not necessarily the ones we would imagine. Researchers have shown that languages that are often considered 'easy' actually require an enormous amount of work from our brains.

Which beverages burst with umami potential? Posted: 27 Jan 2021 09:24 AM PST In a new and first of its kind study, researchers study fermented beverages to find the one with the most umami flavor. Which one wins -- champagne, beer, wine or sake?

Scientists discover a new promising target for diabetes treatment Posted: 27 Jan 2021 09:23 AM PST Researchers have discovered a novel and druggable insulin inhibitory receptor, named inceptor. The blocking of inceptor function leads to an increased sensitisation of the insulin signaling pathway in pancreatic beta cells. This might allow protection and regeneration of beta cells for diabetes remission.

Efficient formation of amide bonds under mild conditions Posted: 27 Jan 2021 09:23 AM PST Linking molecular components through amide bonds is one of the most important reactions in research and the chemical industry. Scientists have now introduced a new type of reaction for making amide bonds. Called an ASHA ligation, this reaction is fast, efficient, works under mild aqueous conditions, and is broadly applicable.

Genetic changes in tumors could help predict if patients will respond to immunotherapy Posted: 27 Jan 2021 09:23 AM PST Researchers have identified genetic changes in tumors which could be used to predict if immunotherapy drugs would be effective in individual patients.

Ions in molten salts can go 'against the flow' Posted: 27 Jan 2021 09:23 AM PST A research group shows, using computer simulations, that ions do not always behave as expected. In their research on molten salts, they were able to see that, in some cases, the ions in the salt mixture they were studying affect one another so much that they may even move in the 'wrong' direction - that is, towards an electrode with the same charge.

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